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Design Intent Documents are an invaluable tool for brands looking to launch their retail image program. They provide all of the necessary details for creating a consistent look and feel across multiple locations and products.

Design Intent Documents are essential for brands rolling out their retail image program. From automotive to retail and from brand standards to customer experience,…

Design Intent Documents are essential for brands rolling out their retail image program. From automotive to retail and from brand standards to customer experience, design intent documents cover a wide range of topics. They provide a comprehensive set of detailed drawings, prototypical drawings, architectural design, and design consistency that help brands create a consistent look and feel across multiple locations and products.

When developing a brand’s rollout program standards, or the prototypical design, the first step is to determine the requirements for design. This involves understanding the brand standards, customer experiences, and retail plans that are associated with the rollout. It also involves understanding all aspects of the brand to select and create the appropriate material and furniture specifications, detail drawings, and prototypical drawings. All of this information helps the brand determine the desired look, feel, and overall image of the brand’s retail program.

The most crucial step in implementing a retail image program is to create a detailed document that outlines the design intent (the Design Intent Documents). These documents should include a statement of purpose, a description of the brand standards, retail plans, intent for the customer experiences, and all relevant details that a retailer needs to build their retail location. This includes sections on branded material and furniture specifications, detail drawings, prototypical drawings, and design consistency. This document serves as the blueprint for rolling out the brand’s retail image program.

Design intent documents are an invaluable tool for brands looking to launch their retail image program. They provide all of the necessary details for creating a consistent look and feel across multiple locations and products. With proper design intent documents in place, brands can ensure that their new retail program is successful.

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We may yet see a consumer experience that goes beyond omnichannel retailing, and because of the public’s forced digital interaction due to COVID-19

In our last issue, we introduced the “New Normal” impact map and how the retail experience is affected in the three major areas across…

In our last issue, we introduced the “New Normal” impact map and how the retail experience is affected in the three major areas across Digital Connections, Brand Communications, and the Physical Environment. For this issue, we introduce three new trends and share more insight on how brands may adapt in a post-covid world.

Part A – Trending: Touch-Free Commerce

The online shopping experience could be changing in big ways due to the Covid -19 crisis. The Chinese saw a dynamic merging of Livestreaming and E-commerce, two of Asia’s largest digital waves, whose unity has created extensive market growth. This growing method of “Shopstreaming” involves live, interactive communications with the products and services that provide a personal connection with the customer. Due to prolonged periods of social distancing and quarantine, customers’ buying habits are moving to these online platforms and allowing them to experience and engage with products like never before.
Food & Beverage: UK herd farm offers live video cattle viewing using social media to reach potential buyers. Learn more →
Automotive: Kelley Blue Book has introduced Dealer Home Services where potential buyers can virtually shop, do a video walkaround, arrange a test drive and purchase a vehicle. Learn more →
Health & Wellness: Popular fitness service, Peloton closes all studios and retail locations to host Livestream classes from a closed set. Learn more→

Part B – Trending: Livestream Everything
The demand for contact-free interaction is driving the growth and integration of touchless technologies in everyday lives. Smart cars, online customer support, virtual assistants, smart home technology, and augmented & virtual reality are just some of the advancements in touch-free tech, and our ability to communicate with it is growing. Today, voice recognition, gesture recognition, and sensory technology are evolving at a rapid pace and when combined with AI and Autonomous tech, we may see a large increase in contact-free interactions for product and service purchases, which may have an immense impact on the retail experience as a whole.

Automotive: Chinese car company, Geely, launches contact-free car buying experience and drops off new vehicle car keys by drone. Learn more →
Retail: A clothing shop in Colorado USA gets creative with weekly window updates and touch-free pickups. Learn more →
Technology: Google Develops Sensor Control Technology that could eventually power gesture-based user interfaces in everything from VR headsets to cars. Learn more→
Health & Wellness: Florida-based Mayo Clinic deploys self-driving shuttles to transport medical supplies and COVID-19 tests. Learn more→
Automotive: Cazoo, a U.K.-based company, allows customers to purchase and finance cars entirely online and delivers purchased vehicles to their homes within 72 hours. Learn more→
Technology: Amazon begins selling cashier-free “Just Walk Out” technology, originally developed for Amazon Go stores in wake of COVID-19. Learn more→

Part C – Trending: Large-Scale Telecommuting
With the coronavirus pandemic forcing companies to implement a telecommuting policy, there are many concerns, but more than that, the pandemic has generated excitement from younger workers looking for flexibility and companies that support “output over hours”. In a post-corona world, businesses will need to evaluate their physical footprint and may realize that paying for unnecessary office space and stations may not be the best use of the company’s resources. Access to broader talent pools is among many of the benefits employers may discover when utilizing a work-from-home policy. In the end, we may see a large-scale telecommuting workforce that changes the dynamic of work as we know it.
Technology: SPACES lets people join Zoom meetings from within virtual reality. Learn more →
Marketing: In a post-covid world, telecommuting may become the norm Learn more →
Marketing: Working from home may actually work, as companies see an increase in productivity. Learn more→

Case Study Spotlight
Digitizing the Human Experience + Social Distancing


Last week’s issue explored trends in digital human connections and social distancing within our built environment. Today, we are highlighting a London-based company, We Are Social, that combines both. The tech company recently developed a Snapchat filter that combines Augmented Reality with social media to show users adequate social distance between themselves and others. The “Snap Safe” Lens aims to keep people safe while promoting social distancing to help fight the spread of COVID-19. Learn more→

Our View
Design Thinking for the New Normal.

Livestream. Everything. The concept of live streaming to connect with one another using social media platforms is not a new one. Musicians and Influencers have been using this as a method to connect with followers for some time now. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic forcing the shutdown of retail stores and public events, live-streaming products and services have become amplified, and brands have an opportunity to make meaningful connections with potential customers like never before.
This notion of social connections with consumers using digital technology is inherently another method to stimulate “Touch Free Commerce”, a trend that we’ve highlighted in this issue, where innovative tech and strategy are allowing for contactless transactions within our physical environments. Ultimately, what our Eview Think Tank is seeing, is a fascinating fusion between digital social networks, virtual experiences, and how the public has begun to engage with those digital technologies in our physical environment. We may yet see a consumer experience that goes beyond omnichannel retailing, and because of the public’s forced digital interaction due to COVID-19, brands have an opportunity to create an experience that has adapted; A branded digital-physical experience that is seamless and essential to the way we live.

How is your brand adapting?
In this new normal, positive customer engagement in and outside of the retail setting is critical. How is your customer journey affected by COVID-19? Let’s connect and discuss your brand’s retail touchpoints to see how you can further engage your customers in a post-corona world.

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Through data collection and an understanding of the global climate, we can begin to plan – not for when things “return to normal” but for this new one.

DEFINING TRENDS FOR A POST-CORONA WORLD As a design agency, our aim is to deliver authentic solutions to our clients by being thoughtful in…

As a design agency, our aim is to deliver authentic solutions to our clients by being thoughtful in our design strategies and thorough in our thinking. With the recent coronavirus pandemic sweeping the nation, we have rigorously researched current and future trends to better inform our design thinking for “The New Normal”. Orange Insight is the first issue in a series of newsletters that strives to ask the questions, “Where do we go from here? 

What is the long and short term impact of this pandemic within the retail experience? How will brands connect and engage with their customers in a post-corona world?” Through data collection and an understanding of the global climate, we can begin to plan – not for when things “return to normal” but for this new one.

 

Impact Map

COVID-19 has created an immediate need for brands to redefine their interactions, communications, and prepare for the long-term impact on their physical engagements with the public. As the pandemic has created a need for self-isolation, it is no longer an option for brands to consider the health and well-being of their customers and employees, but something that should be a part of their very DNA. As shown in the following Impact Map, this “New Normal” affects the retail experience in three major areas across Digital Connections, Brand Communications, and the Physical Environment. Orange Insight explores these three impact areas and shares our views on how brands may adapt in the retail setting during and post-corona.
 
Part A – Trending Digitizing the Human Experience
Digital experiences are moving beyond just tools or entertainment; Digital platforms are becoming the new way that people interact, consume, travel, share, and gather together. Immersive virtual experiences provide value for brands by connecting with consumers in shareable and interactive ways – be it meetings, travel, tours, music or learning – digital technologies are reinventing the in-person experience and taking it online.
Entertainment:   Music Labels, E-Commerce, and Major Alcohol Brands Partner to Create Virtual Clubbing during Self-Isolation. Learn more →
Retail: E-Commerce Platforms Offer Online Tours to Popular Tourist Destinations. Increase sales revenue by 40%-70%. Learn more →
Sports: E-Sports – an explosive billion-dollar industry – is filling the gap in the absence of live sporting events. Learn more→
 
Part B – Social Distancing in the Built Environment
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a heightened sensitivity regarding personal interactions in the built environment. Consumers understand that we are all vulnerable, and will look to brands and the roles they play in the retail setting to keep everyone healthy. Ongoing expectations for our environments will be clean and simple. Our sense of personal space may be different and could have an impact on settings with crowds and tight spaces.
Retail:  Albert Heijn supermarket in the Netherlands uses AI to regulate the number of people in the store Learn more →
Retail: LA wine shop Tilda finds human connection in a contactless buying experience. Learn more →
Architecture: Shift Architecture Urbanism creates hyperlocal micro-markets that limit travel and contact to provide fresh food in urban environments. Learn more→
Retail: Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, Meijer among grocers adding sneeze guards to check-out lanes. Learn more→
 
Part C – Authenticity = Loyalty
During the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, there will be an expectation for brand authenticity and positive experiences. Consumers will stick with and reward brands that “do the right thing”, including using resources to help communities in need. A brand’s longevity may be affected by what actions they took during this pandemic and the way that companies handle their employees, customers, and communities will leave lasting impressions in consumers’ minds.
Retail:  Burberry, Louis Vuitton & Gucci shift production to make face masks for medical workers Learn more →
Health & Wellbeing: Indie beauty brands Goop, Wander Beauty and Indie Lee shift to mental health content during COVID-19 crisis Learn more →
Retail:  The luxury conglomerate, LVMH, will use its perfume factories to produce hand sanitizer Learn more→
Fashion: US Shoe company Allbirds offers free shoes to medical workers and splits costs with you to donate more  Learn more→
Transportation:  US e-bike renting app, Wheels, launches e-bikes with self-cleaning handlebars and brake levers Learn more →
Food & Beverage: Miller Lite Virtual Tip Jar raises money for bartenders during coronavirus pandemic Learn more →
Marketing: Brands redesign their logos to promote social distancing and encourage people to stay home Learn more→
Marketing:  New website, Did They Help, aimed at identifying the positive or negative consumer perception of brands in light of the COVID-19 pandemic Learn more→
 
Our View
Design Thinking for the New Normal. 
 
As our reliance on digital communication grows due to continued social distancing, how can brands begin to leverage those digital touchpoints to engage with a new audience? Increased time spent using social media, gaming, in-home apps, and live-streaming platforms is providing opportunities to connect with an audience who is paying attention. Within the physical environment, consumer expectations will change as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and customers will be looking for a reaction from the industry to ensure they are entering a healthy environment. This “New Normal” requires brands to innovate their operations to adapt to customers that want positive experiences and authentic messaging. Did your brand “do the right thing?” Can you alter your products, services, and retail environment to serve the greater good?
 
Customer Journey
COVID-19 Impact on the Retail Experience
 
The retail customer journey as we know it will have long-lasting implications from the coronavirus pandemic. As seen in the below diagram, the impact extends well beyond the physical environment and affects the way that brands communicate with the public in the digital realm. These digital interactions must become more humanized to compensate for the social distancing occurring in the physical world. Brands have an opportunity to not only create new and lasting connections with customers but also an inherent responsibility to integrate ambient wellness within their physical environments and overall messaging as a response to COVID-19.
 
How is your brand adapting?
In this new normal, positive customer engagement in and outside of the retail setting is critical. How is your customer journey affected by COVID-19? Let’s connect and discuss your brand’s retail touchpoints to see how you can further engage your customers in a post-corona world.
 

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